Underground conductor



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. VERSTRAETE. UNDERGROUND CONDUCTOR.

No. 440,780. Patented Nov. 18, 1890.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' E. VERSTRAETE.

UNDERGROUND CONDUCTOR.

No. 440,780. Patented Nov. 18, 1890.

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UNITED STATES- ATENT OFFICE.

EDMOND VERSTRAETE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO PETER M. KLING AND GEORGE J. KOBUSCH, OF SAME PLACE.

UNDERGROUND CONDUCTOR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Fatent No. 440,780, dated. November 18, 1890.

Application filed February 21, 1890. Serial No. 341,340. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMOND VERSTRAETE, of the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Underground Conductors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improved manner of arranging underground conductors; and my invention consists in features of novelty, hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claim.

Figure I is a detail longitudinal section illustrative of my invention, part of the section showing the inside of the conduit and part the outside of the conduit. Fig. II is a transverse section taken on line II II, Fig. I. Fig. III is a perspective view illustrating the manner of constructing and supporting the conductors. Fig. IV is an enlarged detail section taken on line IV IV, Fig. V. Fig. V is a similar view taken on line V V, Fig. IV. Fig. VI is a transverse section of one of the conductors, showing its use in a modified form.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the road-bed or street; 2, the rails of a car-track, and 3 the conduit, which I have shown located between the track-rails. This conduit may be made or constructed in any desirable manner, so far as this invention is concerned, as I do not in this application confine myself to any particular method or manner of forming the conduit.

4 represents the plow or trolley through which the electric current passes to and from the motor on the car. This, so far as my invention herein claimed is concerned, may be of any desired construction or form-such, for instance, as the construction or form shown, described, and claimed in an application filed by me herewith, Serial No. 341,342.

5 represents the conductors to which this invention relates. These conductors (there is one on each side of the conduit) are formed with recesses or grooves 6 in their lower faces, and they are inclosed by a housing consisting of side pieces 7 and a top piece 8, the sides and top pieces being preferably of wood attached by screws, as shown in Fig. III, between rest the bottom edges 11 of the conductors, so

that as the insulating material is poured in it cannot escape from the space between the conductor and the walls of the housing. The distance between the inner ends of the flanges 10 of the sides of the housing corresponds with y the Width of the groove 6, and through this space the contact between the trolley or plow and the conductor fits and works. The top piece 8 of the housing extends beyond the side pieces 7, forming supporting-flanges 12, by which the conductors are secured to the sides of the conduit by means of plates 13, having lips 14. to receive one of the flanges 12, and removable strips 15, having lips 16 to re ceive the other flange 12. In putting the condoctors in place the strips 15 are removed by taking out the bolts 17, and the conductors are then applied by inserting the inner flanges 12 of the housing into the recesses over the lips 14, and then the strips 15 are applied, thus securely connectingthe conductors to the sides of the conduit.

In Fig. VI, I have shown a conductor arranged with a plate 18, which when in its normal position rests on flanges 19 of the housing of the conductor, but which is capable of being forced up into contact with the conduotor. It is thus forced up by the trolley or plow as the latter moves along through the conduit, and the current passes from the conduit through the plate to the trolley, and as the latter moves along the plate falls again onto the flanges 19.

Itwill be seen from the drawings and the above description that the conductors are in-' closed on top and at each side, thus excluding moisture therefrom-and preventing drops of water from falling on or having anyaccess to the conductors, the result being that the electric circuits are prevented from passing from or leaving the conductors.

I claim as my invention- I consisting of the'sides and top,and a grooved I conductor located Within the insulation, sub

stantially as and for the purnose set forth.

In an underground conductor for electric EDMOND VERSTRAETE. 5 railways, the combination of the sides pro- In presence of vided with flanges 10, a top secured to the THOs. KNIGHT,

sides, an insulation placed within the housing, E. S. KNIGHT. 

